From Collective Burnout to Collective Rest
It seems like the masses are awakening to the power and reward of rest, and I must admit, I LOVE it here.
Not so many years ago, the final week of the year was one full of finishing strong, master planning, and goal setting to set yourself up to crush it in the new year.
All of these terms that gained prominence during the hustle and grind culture era sound so punitive. So violent. But thankfully the tide has turned. A new wave and a gentler energy has captured the spirit of the zeitgeist.
The Rest Revolution is here.
Allow me to bow to the elders and pioneers of our current rest movement. Thought leaders like Tricia Hersey of Nap Ministry fame, Octavia Raheem, Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith, Dr. Gail Parker, and Tracee Stanley have been espousing the virtues of rest for years.
After my own difficult bout with burnout in 2021 where I watched my students and clients in Package Your Genius Academy spiral out alongside me via Zoom, I was personally inspired to take up the mantle of rest and start reporting on why we all feel pressured to do so damn much.
As I have written here before — that curiosity mixed with my desire to reclaim my identity as a writer — led to a viral Washington Post article that eventually set the stage for my new book The Rest Revolution: How to Reclaim Your Rhythm and Conquer Burnout When Overworking Has Become the Norm.
How exciting is it to see the new year approaching with the prevailing idea — at least the one my algorithm is serving up to me — that now is not the time to finish strong or push through. Now is the time to be gentle with yourself, to listen to your body, to acknowledge your needs, and to rest.
But don’t take my word for it. The collective spirit of rest is floating around.
While this rest movement has been picking up steam for several years, according to the sheer volume of conversations I’ve come across as we approach the new year, it appears the ideas are truly taking root. This is good news, because with roots the ideas have a chance of sticking around for the long haul. With roots, they have the chance they need to create a true paradigm shift for how we live and work.
The rest movement growing roots is important because we need more than a handful of thinkers and writers embodying these ideas. Think about the 4-Day Workweek Movement that keeps starting and stopping. Or the move to remote work, and the calls for return to work even after remote work has been proven to be effective. There’s much pushback from the powers that be so the believers must continue to agitate.
And agitate en masse.
For real change to occur in how our society weighs how much time we all get to spend tending to our physical health, mental health, relationships, purpose, and hobbies we need something akin to the French Revolution that changed how society operated.
I will never forget the summer of 2023 during my annual birthday trip to Paris, I met a friend in the Luxembourg Gardens for a little picnic. After we said goodbye, I caught an Uber and once inside I complimented my driver on the beauty and intentionality of the Parisian gardens.
“I love how you all prioritize beautiful public spaces for the people,” I told him.
He chuckled and looked at me in the rear view mirror.
“They were originally royal gardens,” he said. “They didn’t belong to the people, the people had to take them!”
This friends, is how a change in belief leads to widespread changes in how society functions.
We need the masses to be so fed up that they demand change.
From “Let them eat cake,” to “Let them drive Teslas,” I guess.
Regardless, this is how revolutions start building steam.
We are on our way.
Thank you 🙏🏾❤️✨
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